Lollipop by Christine Nöstlinger

Lollipop is one of the more than 100 books by Austrian writer Christine Nöstlinger (1936–2018). A graphic artist by trade, Nöstlinger turned to writing in 1970 with Die feuerrote Friederike (Fiery Frederica), which she illustrated herself.

The majority of Nöstlinger’s production is literature for children and for young people … She centres on the needs of children in her work, with an anti-authoritarian bent. She does not shy away from tackling difficult subjects like racism, discrimination and self-isolation.

Nöstlinger is considered one of the most influential writers of German children’s literature, and was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1984. In 2013, she received the inaugural Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, together with Maurice Sendak.

This book from 1977 is about an adolescent boy nicknamed Lollipop and his sorrows and woes. He has no dad, his older sister often picks quarrels with him, and he’s scared of dogs. Old grocer Otto is about his only friend. Lollipop falls in love with the beautiful Evelyn, but his pocket money is not enough to ask her out, so he starts to steal from his mom. Everytime the going gets tough, he turns to his beloved green lollipops, which seem to have magical powers.

The first edition is illustrated by Angelika Kaufmann (*1935), who studied at Vienna’s University of Applied Arts, just like Nöstlinger. The cover typography combines Pluto Outline (with yellow and green fill) and tightly spaced Herkules, set on a curve.